Tuesday, March 31, 2009

What it means to go fishing

At home, our kitchen cupboards are stocked with plastic bottles of tap water for when the mains burst and the water gets cut. That’s when we shower with a bottle and bucket flush the toilet. There are bars on all the windows and deadlocks on the doors. We hang our washing out to dry and wonder if it will still be there when we come back.

Aka, our house girl, leaves the outside lights on at night. Lights on, doors locked. Even when we’re all at home. We’ve learned what it means to go fishing here. A bamboo rod will come through the window slats and hook onto anything valuable within reach. So anything treasured is kept hidden.